FFVIII – Part 22: The Train Job

Summary: The team learns and executes Rinoa’s plan to hijack a Galbadian train, kidnapping President Vinzer Deling.


Forest Owls’ Train

-The SeeDs and Owls head to a room within the train.

-The music changes to a more martial theme from earlier.

-Zone and Watts present the information they know in unison.

Talking over each other, or perhaps more likely finishing each other’s thoughts. The Galbadian president, Vinzer Deling, is on his way to Timber. A dictator. Possible Big Bad, but I’ve played FFVI. I know not to count my Gestahls before they hatch (ew), so we’ll see.

-lol. Selphie wants to blow up the train with a rocket launcher, but the Owls have something sneakier in mind. Rinoa wants this super elaborate train car swap to steal Deling. A seven step plan to steal the train car.

-I’m no expert, but this seems like a pretty unlikely plan. Seven step procedure. And there’s a five minute timer. Jesus – please stop doing this, game. It’s not a fun mechanic, and you’ve used it like 3-4 times now. So bad.

-They go through the steps in elaborate details, but I click through most of it. I’ll wing it best I can, fail, and try again. Sometimes I’ll have to sneak, sometimes I’ll have to run, sometimes I’ll have to stop.

-hehe, they insult the train they’re in despite hearing that Rinoa designed it herself. They keep going. “You must really hate the President! It’s one of the ugliest things I’ve ever seen!” etc.

-Time to get my party ready. Ah, dammit, all my stuff got un-junctioned. Have to reset my party.

[Non-rhetorical question for y’all: 1) What is this thing where I run across a random spot and get gil and “S-Lvl 4?” My best guess is that it’s salary that I get for walking a certain number of steps.]

-LOL – I’m exploring the train once more before starting, and they have a dummy of the president set up for the swap so the guards won’t notice. XD

-Rinoa’s bed is now a couch, and a new volume of Pet Pals sits atop it.

The bulldog on the cover is adorable.

-The Owls have a magazine clipping from “Anarchist Monthly” or something, which – LOLOL

-The magazine continues. He became President after the end of the “2nd Sorceress War.” NOW we’re cooking! Tell me more about the Sorceress War. Is that the woman wearing bird beak from the intro, I wonder? He invaded Timber to shore up support for himself.

-Vinzer Deling built a prison for dissidents in the desert south of Deling City, the D-District Prison. Both dissidents and their families, from Deling City and Timber, get sent there.

-Galbadia has long range missiles. So does “Esthar,” which I assume is a city. The magazine cuts off there, leaving the impression that the writer was captured. Might see them at D-District Prison if I end up going there. (I put the chances that we’ll see the prison at 100%.)

-Let’s roll out.

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The Heist

-Time begins. We jump across some train cars.

-Quick flash to the President inside his car. A soldier reports in to him that all is well, annoying Deling. This freaks out the soldier.

-OH NO! A quick aside from the Galbadian soldier shows that he’s now worried he’s annoyed Deling, will get his paycheck docked, and won’t be able to propose to his beloved.

-Successful so far. Didn’t get caught by the guards yet, entered the codes I needed to enter, and now the trains are disconnecting.

-The trains disconnect and reconnect with the Owls’ base in the middle now. All going well so far.

-And back to this poor soldier.

Hahahahahaha - I forgot for a second that now they’re in the fake train car with the dummy president.

-It works! Sort of. The soldiers believe it’s the president, but when they leave the car they worry they’re in the wrong train.

Looks shabby.

-SHIT. Got caught. And… nothing happened? I’m confused.

-AGAIN. Dammit. The controls are SUPER slow. I saw the guy walking over so I tried to dodge out of the way, but had to wait until the whole “Give me the code!” “Enter the code!” thing was complete. Grrrrr. Non-responsive outside of small windows.

-Now I have 6 minutes. Good I guess? A part of me feels annoyed that they’re already going to an easier mode without giving me a chance to learn, but the timers are ridiculous to begin with, so whatever.

-Ok, third time’s the charm.

Got it.

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Forest Owl Base

-Watts is excitable and happy.

-Gotta get ready for Rinoa’s “negotiations” with Deling.

I’m expecting to Deling to pull a King of Baron and transform into some kind of boss.

-But that’s next time. Before that, I’ll see if anything new is around the train car.

-One guy teases me, saying something like “Gosh, I wish I knew how Seifer knows Rinoa. It’s super interesting but nobody will tell me!”

-Someone else confirms that the Anarchist Monthly writer was taken to prison.

-Watts’ and Zone’s fathers founded the Forest Owls. They died in the invasion 18 years ago to protect others.

Jesus, Deling. Apparently, not only did Galbadians shoot the two men, but Deling himself shot the bodies afterwards to show his power and ferocity.

SAME GUY ON TRAIN: “We Forest Owls may look like a bunch of jokers to you guys, but we all have our stories. Try to understand, okay?” Well said.

-The Owls are hurting right now because of the fear of prison preventing potential recruits from joining.

-Angelo looks lonely.

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Next time: “Negotiations” with Deling.